A microscope is an extraordinary instrument,
but without any help people often do not know what to observe. A young child
will usually just look at a hair, then at an ant or at a fly squashed between
two slides, and then at a finger. At this point the child does not know what
else to observe, and probably moves on to another activity. More or less the
same happens with an older child or an adult, with the difference that they will
put between the slides a leg of an ant or a wing of a fly and not the whole
insect. Many of them will also try to look at the well-known drop of water, but
most of them will not succeed in seeing anything in it. The few who succeed in
seeing some protozoa or unicellular algae will tend to limit their observations
to this field. What follows in this guide is a collection of articles to guide
your observations with the microscope. The articles propose different kinds of
exploration, all of them wide-ranging and enchanting. With this guide, you can
discover the marvels which surround you. Prepare to enter into worlds whose
existence was unsuspected!

It is not possible to describe all the things
you can see with this instrument, therefore in this guide I'll limit myself to
mentioning only some of the more common and interesting lifeforms to be
observed, and some of the possible explorations. These first steps could serve
as a basis for more in-depth and systematic researches.

As you know, the articles of FSG do not want
to limit themselves to proposing an experiment or the construction of an
instrument, but they seek to introduce readers to a given argument, they try to
stimulate their curiosity and instill the desire to continue to obtain
information and to operate in a certain field. Many guides to microscopy offer
only directions for a series of simple observations. These have to be performed
exactly as written and, when finished, the reader does not know how to continue
with other activities that might stimulate him.

Each guide to observing with a microscope has
its particular approach to the subject. This guide also tries to introduce
readers to biology and in particular to the exploration of nature by means of
the microscope, but to do this it relies on their learning capabilities. This
guide tries to connect with biology text-books, and to be an experimental
support to those valuable books. As we know, objects are seen by our eyes, but
the actual perception involves the brain. This means that if we are well
prepared we will be able to perceive much more things of those we could see
without it. I'll try to put together the aesthetic appreciation of the images,
something that I consider of high importance, and the attempt to understand what
you are admiring.

I'm also convinced that a theoretical
preparation without practical confirmation, and without experimentation and
direct observation, is not very useful and it will soon be forgotten. With this
guide, I would like to lead you to pass from the observation and investigation
of nature to the study of biology text-books - and vice versa. Such a continual
passage between experimentation and study will strongly expand your knowledge
and your ability to interact with nature, and will give you autonomy in your
researches.

As for the theoretical aspects, you can refer
to four main kinds of books:
- biology text-books for colleges,
- handbooks with drawings and handbooks with photographs to help
you to recognize microscopic features,
- guides for identifying the species.
The reader who feels the need can also obtain theses, treatises
and other specialized texts like those used in the universities, but we
will stop there. I will also give you the address of some Internet websites. As
you may know, these websites often change their address, so do not count too
much on them and be ready to track them down by means of search engines.

In the different articles of this guide, I
mentioned the topics the reader should study from time to time. As we do not
exhaust the subject of biology, I think it will be useful to the reader to
complete the study of this book.

On the basis of the knowledge you obtain, you
will better understand what you are seeing, and you can search for things which
otherwise you would not have suspected exist. By reading texts like those
mentioned, you will realize how important it is to join observations with the
microscope with the study of the biology texts. This knowledge strengthens the
ability of understand what you observe, and it will enable you to pass from just
seeing to understanding. By placing the study of the texts and your microscope
observations side to side, your discovery of nature will become richer and more
fascinating. You will also be able to go ahead with your explorations under your
own direction, over many years and even for all your life.

This guide has been conceived for European
environments. Readers who live in other parts of the world should obtain texts
suitable for their own ecosystems. Readers should have a text which allows them
to identify the life forms that they meet, at least at the general level of the
genus.

These articles will give you also some
information for making wet mounts of botanical tissues such as leaves, stems and
roots. You will find also a handbook that describes how to make permanent mounts
of animal and botanical tissues. Making permanent slides is quite complicated,
but producing a permanent slide for microscopy can give great satisfaction.

One article of this guide is devoted to "Micromounts",
little mineral specimens that are best appreciated using a microscope or a lens,
and is intended to be an introduction to the world of minerals.

There are two main types of microscope used in
biology: the stereoscopic microscope and the compound microscope
for biology. Those people who do not know how to use those instruments can refer
to the seventh article of this guide.

With the microscope, try to observe what is
described in the single articles, writing down what you see in a notebook
and adding drawings and photographs.

Obviously, these articles can also be useful
in schools, whose teachers will be able to organize very interesting lessons
around them.

In the pictures, the length "L" of the
organisms excludes the antennae and other appendixes, and the term "field"
indicates the length of the longer side of a picture.

Please note that for all material published in
Fun Science Gallery, neither myself nor the other authors or collaborators
assume any liability for any losses or damages caused as a result of any
projects described in this guide. For more information, please read the page of
Warnings.